Essay for Percussion

Instrumentation: drum set, marimba, vibraphone

Year composed: 2020

Duration: 8'

Along with the rise of internet sales for Peloton bikes and chess boards, the year 2020 brought along time for novel inspiration. I noticed creators having the urge to make the film they’ve always wanted or write the book they’ve dreamed of publishing. I was no different as I began to write musical pieces based on the books and films I had enjoyed during the year.

After taking inspiration from Tim Krieder’s book of essays, I Wrote This Book Because I Love You, I sat down to compose a collection of piano works under the title “I Wrote This Music Because I Love You.” The set of pieces would be structured similarly to the book: a group of essays each drawing influence from a special relationship in life. The relationship could be platonic, romantic, family oriented, student and mentor, anything I could think of. After composing the first draft, I shared the idea with a friend, a percussionist. He endorsed the work though I felt he wished it had been a percussion piece because of the changing time signatures mostly returning to 7/8. Circa one year earlier, I had been commissioned to compose a percussion piece but hadn’t yet started writing because of other projects over the course of an extended turnaround time. My friend’s response, though, gave me a change of direction. As a result, the draft of the solo piano work was rewritten and completed for drum set, marimba, and vibraphone. Keeping in mind one movement works, music and pieces of writing, and giving a nod to the percussion family—a family in need of more literature—the name Essay for Percussion came to pay homage.

Essay for Percussion was commissioned by Adam Groh and the consortium “Everybody Hits!”